Farmers should now apply for Single Farm Payment online

Sinn Féin MLA Oliver McMullan has appealed to all farmers to use
the online system to apply for Single Farm Payment this year.

Mr McMullan said,

“The Department of Agriculture has just launched their on line
application form for Single Farm Payments.

“Last year there were 37,633 applications, of which only 20%
applied online leaving staff to deal with over 29,000 paper applications.

“At the end of May, the last two weeks of the application
period, 65% of the total applications were submitted which meant staff had to
deal with 24,461 hard copy applications in that fortnight period alone.

“It takes 10 weeks to scan and key in the data from all paper
applications, and over 50,000 errors were identified in the first
validation. That gives a sense of the scale of the operation.

“I would advise farmers that the online version of doing this is
quicker, easier, avoids standing in long queues and makes correcting mistakes
easier.

“It is therefore crucial that we get the message out to farmers
that by applying early and online it will speed up the entire process. If
a farmer has not got the confidence to fill the form online they should seek
assistance by contacting their local DARD office or any local Sinn Féin
representative.

“The system is set up to save information as it is imputed so
even in areas where there is a bad broadband connection farmers can apply
online knowing that if the network goes all down the information will have
already been saved.

“The
Minister has promised that if over 40% of the Single Farm Payment applications
were online then she would attempt to have over 90% of the payment out by
December so farmers should be getting online now if they want an early return
of their Single Farm Payment.”